More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides used annually nationwide have contributed to an array of health problems in youth, including autism, cancer, birth defects, early puberty, obesity, diabetes and asthma, the Pesticide Action Network North America, a

Pesticides pervade the environment, from the air we breathe to the food we eat, and they are making children sicker than they were a generation ago, a new report warns.

More than 1 billion pounds of pesticides used annually nationwide have contributed to an array of health problems in youth, including autism, cancer, birth defects, early puberty, obesity, diabetes and asthma, the Pesticide Action Network North America, an environmental group in Oakland, said in a report released Tuesday.

The authors' conclusions were based on dozens of recent scientific studies that have tied chemicals to children's health, and their report sought to bring collective meaning to those findings.

"One of the things that is also really clear from science is that children are just much more vulnerable to pesticide exposure," said co-author Kristin Schafer, senior policy strategist at Pesticide Action Network North America.

"In terms of how their bodies work and defense mechanisms work, how much (pesticides) they're taking in pound for pound, they're eating more, drinking more, breathing more than an adult, and are much more susceptible to harms that pesticides can pose."

Some of the strongest recent findings to emerge suggest that exposure to pesticides, even at low levels, can disrupt brain development in children when they are in the womb and throughout their youth, the authors said.
More disabilities

That may explain why rates of developmental disabilities, such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, have ballooned in the last decade.

More than 400,000 of the 4 million children born annually in the United States are estimated to be affected by neurodevelopmental disorders.

One-third of all neurodevelopmental disorders are caused either directly by pesticides and other chemicals or by genetics and exposure to environmental factors, the National Academy of Sciences estimates. Exposure to pesticides has also been linked to lower IQ levels in children.

California has taken significant steps toward becoming aware of pesticides in the environment and reducing them, the authors said.

A 2000 state law required school districts to report pesticide use on school grounds, and those in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, among other cities, have adopted programs to manage pests in safer ways.

A law passed a year later allowed for the restriction of pesticide spraying near schools, day care centers and other sites.

The authors commend the Edible Schoolyard Project, a gardening and cooking program founded by chef Alice Waters at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, for its emphasis on pesticide-free school lunches.

Even with stricter laws in place, the authors said, the pesticide industry should be prevented from selling agricultural products that can harm children.

In addition, pesticides should be kept out of homes, schools, parks and other places intended for children, and farmers should ease off pesticides, they said.
Conclusions challenged

But Mary Emma Young, a spokeswoman for Crop Life America, a group that represents the pesticide industry, said all products are reviewed for their effect on people and the environment before they are approved. The report also primarily pins health problems on pesticides, but many causes could be at work, she said.

"The report focuses on data correlation which attempts to link one causative agent - pesticides - with children's health issues that are influenced by a multiplicity of factors, including environment, nutrition and genetic history," Young said.

But Tracey Woodruff, director of UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, said the report, which she was not involved in, demonstrates that pesticides are potent.

The next step for researchers is to understand exactly how they affect children when combined with other chemicals, she said.

"Air pollution, chemicals from your couch, BPA (Bisphenol A), flame retardants and pesticides on top of it," she said. "What does that mean?"